The Ballad of Stevie Jane
by HypatiaTheGunslinger
Summary: Meet Stevie and Dean. They are having problems in their relationship. The kind that involve gods, monsters, and werewolves. Dean/OC. MultiXOver
1. Chapter 1

The Ballad of Stevie Jane

A/N: The prologue to this story has been retitled to Wolfkind and Winchester and posted separately.

Chapter 1

 _Earlier_

Dean missed his baby. She had been the one true thing in his life for years. Always there. Reliable. Lately he's been forced to accept inferior substitutes and it was beginning to wear thin on his patience.

The alignment on the Dodge, that currently subbed for his beloved Impala, was distinctly off. The gear shift stuck, and he considered the former owner both entirely too short and a giant douche. The California license plate, which Sam had replaced, had read "Chariot 3."

"Chariot...really?" He mused aloud.

His brother groaned. "Dude, seriously, let it go. It's a stolen car. What do you want?"

"Maybe a ride that isn't bright frickin purple? You do realize what I look like driving this car, don't you?"

"You asked for a classic car this time. It's a '71 Challenger. If you want something different, you get to boost next time." Sam replied hooking the cuff of his jacket back across his eyes in a vain attempt at sleep.

Dean just grumbled in response. In all reality the Challenger wasn't that bad. She had nice lines and aside from a bit of a shaky alignment, she handled well. The radio had been tuned to a punk rock station and a Heart tape had been in the cassette player. Dean could appreciate the medium. But still he'd swapped it for a Motley Crue tape, then he felt a bit better. It was being on the run that was really wearing thin. That and he was having the year from hell. Again.

Dean saw a small billboard off to his right that advertised a dive that served, "Cold Beer! Hot Food! and the Best Pie in Utah!" He was in.

"Wakey Wakey Sam." Dean barked. "It's supper time and I wanna get my pie on."

"That just doesn't sound right." Sam grumbled as they took the exit and rolled to a stop in the bar's parking lot.

Dean ordered a Budweiser, a bourbon, a burger, and a slice of boysenberry. He was feeling witty tonight. Sam ordered a chicken caesar salad and a Corona. They talked shop. Monsters. Angels. Demons. Same old same old. What happened next was what their grandfather Samuel would have called an ill wind blowing in.

The girl that walked into the bar had long black hair, cowgirl boots and a stetson hat that obscured her face from view. That didn't stop the Winchesters from taking in her other attributes. She wore fitted jeans, a purple t-shirt and a leather jacket that sported a vaguely military emblem on the back incorporating a wolf and an eagle.

She sat down at the bar and spoke with the bartender, who dropped a glass of dark draught in front of her. It didn't take long for her to be approached. Dean couldn't tell if the guy was local, but he looked at home. He'd come in a group, Sam pointed out. He was drunker and sweatier than the companions he'd left at the pool table nearby. And hadn't had the time to tuck in his shirt today. He had a leer on his face that was not flattering.

Sam and Dean watched and conversed as the man propositioned the woman. They had to give him points for courage. It wasn't as if her body language was welcoming. And she'd clearly turned him down flat. But then they had to deduct points for the guy getting louder and more insistent. Her response, though they could not hear it, had the man's companions and the bartender laughing.

He made a choice comment that they could hear, about what he was going to do to her in the parking lot, and that got Dean out of his seat. He couldn't listen to this crap and eat his pie. Sam didn't try to stop him.

"Hey, why don't you sit down and have another beer, pal?" Dean sidled up to the woman's other side and slapped a ten dollar bill on the bar, sliding it to the other guy. "On me."

"Keep your money." The guy snorted. "I'll keep the girl."

"You will keep your hands and comments to yourself." The woman responded.

She slid the ten back to Dean, and he got his first glimpse of her. Fair skin, ice blue eyes, beautiful and dangerous. Her eyes closed for a second and she inhaled deeply. Dean felt like he was on the edge of a cliff until she opened them again.

"And you may keep your help and your money to yourself. Thank you."

"Yeah, what she said." The drunk guy sneered, grabbing the woman's arm, having obviously forgotten the first part of her ultimatum.

Dean was about to grab the guy, and he could see the rest of the pool table getting up, as well as Sam at his peripheral. But before anyone could make a move, there was a smashing sound, and the guy was sitting on the floor with his back against the bar holding a broken bloody hand and screaming.

The woman swung herself cleanly off the bar stool and into a crouch, in front of her would-be-suitor. "Hey" was all she said, and it was just to get his attention. The guy locked eyes with her, his growing wide. His pained screams turned into whimpers and he started scooting away. He crab walked toward the pool table, crawled, and then ran for the bathroom. Ran like the fear of god had been put into him.

The woman stood up slowly, making eye contact with each one of the men at the pool table. Like a wave, they all averted their eyes in turn. Then she turned and calmly paid the bartender. The bartender took her money as she chugged the rest of her drink. The bartender exchanged looks with Dean and Sam and uncomfortably addressed her. "I'm gonna have to ask you to leave, ma'am."

She shrugged. "Yeah, I figured. Thanks anyway."

She set her empty glass down, tipped the bartender, tipped her hat to Dean, and breezed out just as quickly as she'd come in. Sam and Dean followed her out to the parking lot. But as soon as they cleared the door, she'd vanished.

They went back inside, sat down, and finished their meal without further disturbance. They only discussed the incident briefly before moving on to more shop talk.

It was dark when they got back to the car and both were tired. It was a sign of their fatigue that neither checked the backseat before climbing in and driving off. They didn't get a mile before Sam happened to look in the rearview mirror to find the woman in the stetson staring back at him. He shouted and jumped halfway out of his seat. This caused Dean to look, which caused him to veer past the center line and almost take out an Audi going the opposite direction.

"What the hell?!" Dean shouted as he pulled off onto the shoulder going the wrong way.

Both Winchesters drew their guns on her, to which she looked supremely un-impressed. "Smooth. Very smooth. And just who taught you to drive?"

Dean growled. "What the hell are you?"

"And so eloquent too. You kiss your mother with that mouth, handsome?"

Sam put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "What he means to say is who are you? And what the hell are you doing in our car?"

The woman tipped her hat up so they could see her eyes. Little lightning bolts danced across them, but that could have been the headlights flashing from oncoming cars. "I could ask you the same question."

"Listen lady, you better cut the cryptic crap before I..."

"What? Slice me with your rapier sharp wit?" She cut Dean off, looking less than amused.

"Get out of my car!"

"A valid request, if this happened to be your car. Which it isn't."

"Wait." Sam interrupted. "What makes you think this isn't our car?"

"Pop the glove box and take out the registration." She said reaching into her back pocket.

Sam looked at Dean, who grumbled and glared at her but nodded. He read the registration aloud. "Stevie J. Lupaventus."

She flashed them the badge that she'd fished out of her pocket.

"Our cousin Stevie." Dean offered. "Great guy, but down on his luck. He asked us to drive the car to Arizona. We're supposed to meet him in Phoenix by the end of the week. I have his number if you'd like to call him, officer." He gave her his best cute/innocent/flirtatious look.

"How very nice of you." She smiled. "And I'll grant you adorable. But obviously you don't read as well as you B.S." She tossed the badge into his lap.

Dean read the badge and cursed. He glared at Sam, who was looking clueless. "Dude! It's a cop car! Worse, it's a chick car!"

Sam read the badge.

Deputy - Office of the Sheriff

Township of Haven, MO

Her identification card read:

Stevie J. Lupaventus

Deputy Sheriff

Commanding Officer: Sheriff Wyatt Carmichael

"You're Stevie? Like Nicks?" Sam offered.

"I've tracked you two through two states, to get this car back. So, I prefer to think of myself as the daughter McQueen always wanted. But that's neither here nor there. You boys are under arrest."

"How do we know that badge is even real?" Dean stalled. "Maybe you stole it?"

"Aw, well darlin the badge could be fake. I'll grant you that. But I assure you the gun and the handcuffs are real enough to satisfy." She dangled two pairs of handcuffs at them and Dean felt a familiar cylindrical pressure pushed into the seat at the base of his spine.

"We're both armed." Sam retaliated.

"I realize that, what with the guns in the front seat, and all the ones you managed to fit in my trunk. Kudos on that by the way. And I realize that I don't know what you're capable of. But I'm willing to bet two brothers who are willing to stand up for a lady in a bar wouldn't be willing to shoot her on the side of the road. And, if not, I'm willing to bet that despite all evidence to the contrary, you boys aren't stupid enough to shoot a cop over a muscle car…. when you're not certain she hasn't called you in already."

"We're a long way from Montana." Dean countered, figuring that she was bluffing.

"But just two miles from the county sheriff's station." Stevie smiled. "You've gotta love cooperation in law enforcement. Now, if you'd both please follow your own advice and get the hell out of my car."

She forced them to relinquish their guns and rearrange so that they were both handcuffed in the backseat. She pointedly ejected Dean's Crue tape and threw Heart back in.

"Aw, come on!" Dean grumbled. "If you're going to take us in, at least don't make us listen to chick music on the way."

"Driver chooses the music. Backseat shuts his cakehole!" Stevie retorted. Sam's eyebrows leaped and he gave Dean an amused look.

"Shut it!" Dean mouthed at him. The Winchester boys were in deep now. They had a rap sheet a mile long, which included numerous occasions of being wanted for murder, and their own death certificates. Stevie rolled her eyes and turned the music up.

A second later, there was a whooshing sound and a figure appeared in the passenger's seat. Dean almost jumped again. "Cas!"

"Hello Dean. Sam... Stevie." Castiel greeted. The fallen, former Angel of the Lord, looked liked he'd seen better days. But for Cas, that was pretty much par for the course.

"You got a lot of nerve showing your winged monkey ass around me, Castiel." Stevie growled. It was a low rumbling sound that seethed fury. She killed the music.

"Stevie. You cannot arrest these men." Cas replied.

"You two know each other?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Stevie Jane is a... friend."

"Friend my ass!" She laughed. "Friends don't bribe or blackmail friends into helping them, only to bag out on their end of the deal."

"So," Sam ventured. "Not friends then."

"You cannot take the Winchesters into custody."

"They stole my car! Last time I checked, that is a crime in the human world." Stevie growled. Her eyes stayed pointedly on the road and her knuckles turned white gripping the steering wheel. "And you have officially run out of favors from me!"

"What happened before was not my call. There were other concerns."

"Would somebody tell me what's going on? Cas?" Dean grumbled shaking his cuffed hands. He'd briefly debated trying to pick the cuffs, but when Cas showed up he'd decided to stick around. That, and he remembered that Stevie had found his lockpicks.

"It would seem that Stevie is reluctant to release you and Sam out of revenge against me."

"Oh." Dean said, exchanging a glance with Sam. As a general rule, when Cas got cryptic, Dean had always taken a hard line approach. But something about this girl hinted at that not being the best approach. "What did you do?"

"I promised her something important in exchange for her help."

"And you didn't deliver?" Sam ventured.

"Not at the time."

"Or anytime since!" Stevie breathed. "But thankfully, it doesn't matter. This is an easy case. They committed grand theft auto. I take them in. I fill out some paperwork. I take my car, and go home. No muss, no fuss."

"You cannot arrest these men." He repeated. Evidently he didn't want to mention the whole "wanted for murder" bit. Both Sam and Dean were grateful for this.

Stevie Jane just seethed silently, ignoring Castiel. Cas didn't elaborate. Dean poked Sam, and nodded toward the front seat. Sam shook his head, pointed to Dean, and nodded at the front seat. Dean raised a fist, pointed at Sam, and nodded toward the front seat. Sam gave in.

"Cas, why shouldn't Stevie arrest us?"

"I didn't say she shouldn't. I said she can't. Because, among other reasons, it would be counterproductive." Then Cas was silent again. Both men glared. He was killing their chance to get out of going to prison. All he had to do was make up a believable excuse, but apparently that wasn't part of his plan.

After a while, Stevie couldn't take the silence anymore. "Okay, I'll bite. Why would it be counterproductive for me to arrest these guys?"

"Because Dean IS what I promised you." Cas replied, as if it was of no consequence.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Challenger lurched as Stevie slammed on the brakes. She put the car into reverse and made a three point turn, pulling onto a path that they had just passed, into the nearby woods. She drove through the narrowly cut path, which could barely be considered a dirt road, until they came into a small clearing. All of this was done at about 70 miles per hour. It took all of 2 minutes.

She again slammed on the brakes, sliding to a stop just before impaling the car on the trunk of a douglas fir. Everyone was breathing heavily. Stevie slowly turned off the ignition, took off her hat, and placed it gently on the dashboard. She flipped the door locks and threw her own door open.

"Everyone out."

The clearing would have been lovely if Sam and Dean's hearts weren't about to pop out of their chests. They had opted to both slide out of the passenger's side of the car, following Cas. Stevie rounded the hood, her long black hair bursting out of the braid that had been restraining it.

Now there was no mistaking that her eyes were glowing yellow, with lightning bolts streaming across the irises. Dean was terrified, and a little bit turned on, which admittedly was not all that uncommon for him.

"Him?" Stevie asked of Cas, pointing at Dean.

"Yes." Cas nodded.

"He is my True Mate?"

"I know. It seems unlikely, but it is true, nonetheless."

"This is the guy that you asked me to ford the flaming river to get to? The one I helped you raise from Tartarus itself, and then had you sweep out from under me?"

"Technically it was Hell. But yes, that was Dean."

"Wait," Dean said, his brain finally catching up with them. "She helped you bust me out of Hell?!"

"I was thinking outside of the box." The look that Cas shot Dean told him that the angel considered this a volatile situation.

Stevie was shaking her head, her eyes wild. "No, no, no! He's human! And he doesn't look anything like the soul I rescued."

"Technically, you never saw his real face. And yes, he's human." Cas replied. Stevie began pacing. Her shoulders hunched animalistically.

"Meaning to say that she isn't?" Sam asked Cas. "Human, I mean?"

"No."

"Then what the hell is she Cas?" Dean's voice.

"She's a wolf, among other things."

"She is standing right here!" Stevie whirled on Cas. "And you are lying! Again! The gods would not be that cruel."

"Yes they would. I'm telling the truth. And you know it."

"Fine! I'll prove it!"

Stevie turned on Dean. At first, he thought she was going to hit him. He flinched back, but to Dean's surprise she slipped a hand around the back of his neck and kissed him. Hard.

At first the kiss was tense on both sides. Neither of them particularly wanted it. But then it deepened rather quickly. Dean felt his pulse speed up, desire raced through him. It was like he was getting a contact high off of her.

Dean raised his hands to her face, but was hampered by the handcuffs she'd slapped on him. She grunted and with a swift pull on his hands, broke the chain on the cuffs. Dean wove his fingers into her hair, wrenching it free of its tie. He spun her around so she sat on the hood of the car, wrapping her legs around his waist.

It was this action that sprang Sam free of the shock he'd been watching the scene with, since exiting the car. He turned to Cas, who'd been watching and waiting patiently,with mild interest.

"Who did you say this girl is?"

"Technically, she's his wife."

Sam's eyes bugged out. "Since when?"

"Birth. Heaven betrothed them well before Stevie herself was conceived. It was what you might call a big deal in celestial circles."

"Cupids?"

Cas nodded. "And archangels, and a few seraphim worked on it. Stevie's parentage is rare. It was...is complicated."

"And this is just coming up now? You couldn't have mentioned it before?"

"It wasn't relevant before."

Sam shook his head as if that would make it all make sense. By this point, articles of clothing were being removed and thrown onto the hood of the Challenger.

"Now what are they doing?"

"If I had to guess I would say sealing the Mating. Making it permanent. It's really quite fascinating to watch. And it rarely warrants spectators. It is completely based on instinct. Nature at work...Like bees."

Sam rolled his eyes. Cas was babbling again. He'd been obsessed with nature lately, especially with bees. "Human terms, please?"

"It's a wedding ceremony. For wolves, it involves sex. They produce hormones that make the process quite enjoyable for their mates. Or so I'm told."

Sam's mouth gaped. "You mean they're going to throw down right here, right now?"

Castiel simply nodded and continued to watch. "We should wait here. It would be considered rude to interrupt."

Sam decided that he'd had enough. "Dean!"

Dean grunted and ignored him. Stevie growled and wrapped tighter around Dean. Sam slapped him on the back. "Dude, she isn't human!"

That had the desired effect of bringing them up for air. Luckily they were both still fully clothed. Dean pulled back, breathing heavily, but he left his hands on her hips. "Wow."

Stevie looked at him with wonder. "Is it really you? I've been searching for so long. I came close a couple of times, but I never..."

She trailed off, leaning in to take in his scent. There had been legends about this among her kind since the beginning, this meeting between True Mates. Every wolf was born with the knowledge that they had one true mate in the world. The one who would complete their soul. They might search for years, centuries even, before finding that mate. Some gave up the search and mated with 'compatibles.' Stevie had wanted the legend, the magic.

Dean had been what Castiel had promised her. She had fought her way through the depths of hell to find her mate, literally. And here he was. She knew him by scent and by touch, just as she'd always been told she would. He was... "Perfect."

"...monster! We hunt her kind, man!"

Stevie had been too wrapped up in her newly discovered mate to listen to what his brother was saying. But that last part registered. Her legs slipped from around Dean's waist. "What?"

"I wasn't going to mention that." Cas muttered to Sam.

"Hunters?" Stevie asked Cas, her gaze fluttered confused first to him, then to Sam, then back to Dean. That one word had changed everything. It sent her world crashing to the ground.

"You're a Hunter?"

Dean felt a surge of emotion bordering on physical pain, as she pulled away from him. The fog on his brain lifted as they disconnected physically. He realized then, what he had been doing. While everything in him, emotionally, spiritually, definitely physically, had told him that kissing her was right; his rational brain told him that it went against everything he believed in.

"Yeah, I'm a Hunter and you're a monster."

She reeled back, wrapping an arm across her middle like he had punched her in the gut. If her face was any indication, that was exactly how she felt. Tears beaded out the sides of her beautiful blue eyes. She whispered to herself. "No."

Cas looked about to comment, she turned on him. "You call yourself my friend, but it just slips your mind to tell me that the man you've had me chasing my tail after for years...my True Mate, my husband...is a Hunter?"

Dean instinctively stepped forward to comfort her, but he wrenched his hand back when he realized what he was doing. She began to shake. At the far end of the clearing, a single bolt of lightning split a sapling tree in half. It startled the Winchesters. But Castiel was unfazed. "Stevie don't."

"What kind of a sick joke are you pulling now, Cas? You haven't taken enough from me? You and your angel pals. Haven't I given enough?"

"Let me explain."

"Look at him!" She growled. "My mate doesn't even know me. The only connection he feels is when I kiss him. He's human! And worse, he's a killer!"

She turned to Dean. The look on her face hit him like a ton of bricks. Betrayal. He'd known her for all of five minutes and he felt it down to his bones. She felt betrayed by him. By fate. That one kiss had meant something. Something very important to her. Something he couldn't understand fully. Those few moments had felt like a lifetime getting to know each other. But now it felt like he had gone back on a vow of some sort. Dean averted his eyes, trying to escape that betrayal.

"How many?" she asked him, her voice stone-cold.

"How many, what?"

"How many people have you killed, just because they weren't like you?"

Dean was speechless. He had never thought of his job that way. Or maybe he had, but no one had ever asked the question. He killed to protect people. Human people. He didn't think of the things he killed as people themselves. He couldn't. He dropped his gaze to the ground.

"No." Stevie shook her head at him. Taking his silence as some sort of admission of guilt. She threw her hands in denial. "This is not happening."

She rounded the car, popping the trunk. She grabbed the overnight bags the Winchesters had thrown in there, leaving their arsenal in the trunk. She threw a bag to Sam, the scent telling her which bag belonged to which man. She tossed the other bag at Dean's feet along with the pearl handled gun his father had given him, as if she was now afraid to approach him. She gave him one last challenging look. "Ask."

Somehow he knew what she meant instinctively. She wanted him to protest, to ask her to stay. She would stay if he asked her to. She'd find a way to make it work. Despite him being a Hunter. Despite everything. He found himself wanting to do just that. But he couldn't bring himself to speak. He was afraid of what would happen if she did stay. Afraid of what he felt for her and what that meant for his life. Afraid of her.

When Dean didn't protest, Cass did. "You cannot leave."

"I'm not arresting them." She said. "That's what you wanted."

"You are a Protector. Dean's Protector." Cas countered. "Now that you know him, it is your duty to stay."

"He does not bear my mark, nor does it appear he wishes to." She said, giving Dean one last glance. "I am your Protector. But I also have a duty to protect others from you."

She went to get in the car, stopped, and turned back. She drew something shiny from her pocket and flipped it at Dean. He caught the coin. It was silver with an eagle pressed into one side and an image of a she-wolf suckling two human babies on the other.

"Call if you need me."

She got in the car, put it in reverse and sped back out of their lives as quickly as she had come in. The Winchesters stood in the clearing, silent for a few long moments. Sam looked worriedly at Dean. Dean slipped the coin into his pocket and turned to Castiel.

"You better start 'splainin, Lucy." Dean growled. "And don't skimp on the details."

Cas looked at him gravely. "This is not good."

Sam snorted ironically. "Dude, you're married to a …

"Shut it!" Dean cut off his brother.

"A cop."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

An angel and two Winchesters walked into a bar. Castiel scanned the broken down abandoned dive. The owners looked to have left in quite a hurry, leaving the bottles of liquor on the wall display behind the bar. It had been used as a squat house at one point, so some of the bottles were missing.

Castiel gave a nod, indicating there was no danger, and Dean walked over to the bar, helping himself to a glass and a bottle of nondescript whiskey. He sat down on one of the torn up barstools, and turned his back to his brother.

Sam gave his brother a worried look. Ever since the incident with Stevie Jane, Dean had been rattled. He had always been a drinker. But these days, it was starting to affect his work. It was like he didn't want to work cases anymore. Was tired of his whole life. It had been building in Dean for years, but the girl seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Dean just didn't care anymore. Whether it was the crisis of conscience Stevie had provoked, or Stevie herself that caused this swing in mood, Sam didn't like it. Hence the field trip.

"Is he here?" Sam asked Cas.

"Yes." Cas said pointing a hand up towards a corner of the room. "I am holding him. But he is not happy about it."

Sam spared his brother another worried glance. "We just want to talk to him."

"Show yourself!" Castiel shouted, in his best booming voice. These days, he was loathe to involve himself in conflict. But he felt compelled to do this for his friends.

The angel that they had been tracking finally revealed himself. He was angry, overweight, and completely naked. That didn't stop him from grinning and grabbing Cas in the biggest sweatiest bear hug he could. "Brother! You have been very naughty."

Sam tapped the cupid on the shoulder and received his own naked hug for his trouble. "Hi! Thanks! Thank you.. for that. You're a cupid right?"

The angel released Sam and huffed. "Cherubim. Castiel should have told you that."

"Do you have a name?"

"Maeliel. My friends call me Mylie or Mylo."

"Mylo! Great!" Sam smiled. "Mylo, I'm Sam. Obviously you know Cas, and that is my brother Dean."

Dean raised a two finger salute from his seat on the barstool, not turning around. The expression on Mylo's face was a grin that bordered on a grimace, like he was furious, but really really happy to be. "I know who you are. Why have you been following me? You're scaring away all of my marks."

"Well, we are so sorry about that." Sam said by way of consolation. "But we were wondering if we could ask you some questions. Then, I promise we will leave you alone to..you know..do your thing."

Mylo huffed and waved a hand at him. "Well okay, go on then. What do you want to ask me about?"

"We want to know about Stevie Jane."

Dean popped up out of his seat. Sam had told him they were tracking some love sick monster on a murder spree. "Sam, what are you doing?"

Sam held up a hand. "Mylo we need to know everything you can tell us about Dean and Stevie Jane. And their..."

"Mating? Oh that!" Mylo cooed. "Definitely some of my best work! I even got to meet Venus. Lovely woman...for a pagan. Shame how it's turned out so far though."

The last comment was directed squarely at Dean, with an accompanying glare. Sam put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from lunging at the angel. "Mylo could you tell us how this ...arranged marriage...how it started?"

"Ohhh, yes!" Mylo clapped his hands gleefully, sat down at one of the tables that was still upright, and crossed his legs. "I love a good story!"

He gestured to the other chairs around the table for them to sit. Cas, Sam, and a begrudging Dean took their seats, and watched Mylo settle in like a seasoned gossip queen. Thankfully his nether regions were now obscured by the table. "So it all started with John and Mary Winchester. What a cute couple they were."

"Our parents, yeah that makes sense." Sam nodded, trying to play to Mylo's chatty side.

"Right. So it was foretold on high that they would produce the vessels of Michael and Lucifer. Which turned out to be you boys of course! But at first we weren't quite sure what generation the prophecy was referring to. And with humans having free will and all, Heaven always has a backup plan."

"Backup plan my ass." Dean grumbled under his breath. This caught a disapproving glance from Mylo, but he continued.

"Anyhoo. It was decided that the bloodlines of the vessels needed to be maintained, just in case you boys weren't all you were cracked up to be. Only problem was that yours was the last human family that had the particular traits needed for two such important vessels. So we had to start looking at non-human families. That's where the wolves came in."

"Yeah, how does that work exactly?" Dean asked. "How do monsters make it into a bloodline fit for angels?"

Mylo's face turned sour. "Monsters, indeed! Stevie is a Faoladh."

"Mylo, Dean is a hunter. He hasn't had exposure to the less hostile breeds." 

Castiel's entreaty didn't stop the other angel's fury. A sudden wave of fear swept over the brothers that they could not have anticipated from a Cherubim.

"Stevie Jane comes from a noble breed of Celtic warrior wolves. An ancient breed ordained by the Creator to protect the earth and his creatures, after mankind abandoned that duty, for his own selfish pursuits. She herself has accomplished feats that rival your own heroic deeds. And let me tell you, it hasn't exactly been a picnic for her being destined for you!"

Again, Sam physically restrained his brother's response. "Okay, okay, Stevie has had it hard. How so?"

"Her clan has been in hiding since they came to the New World. They were almost hunted to extinction in Europe, by Hunters like yourselves. Needless to say, mating with humans is...discouraged. So the assignment posed quite a challenge. We had to make sure that Stevie would be separated from her pack at some point. Make her more available to mate with a human. So we had to make some of her more unusual abilities more obvious to her pack."

"Mylo is assigned to matching non-human and mixed couples." Castiel explained. "He's rather sensitive on the subject."

"I like to think of my targets as non-traditional couples."

This seemed to be an old argument. So Sam took another tactic. "So Stevie isn't like others of her kind?"

Mylo pursed his lips and huffed in a haughty manner. "Not as such." He pointed his finger at Dean. "I assure you that we selected Stevie very carefully. We took great pains to make sure your bride was compatible with you in every way, spiritually, intellectually, sexually.."

Dean raised an eyebrow at this and Mylo continued on his rant.

"We knew she was a Protector, fierce and powerful. Capable of defending the bloodline by force, if necessary."

"Protectors are law keepers of the wolven communities." Castiel interjected. "Alpha wolves with heightened strength, speed and agility, to help the Pack Alpha enforce Pack Law."

"Female Protectors are unheard of." Mylo exclaimed. "Stevie's sequestered, backwards pack had no idea how to deal with her. So they simply chose to deny her as a Protector. And that didn't end particularly well."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Exactly why do you need to know all this?" Mylo glared, suddenly suspicious. "It doesn't matter if the bloodlines are maintained now. You boys screwed up the apocalypse. And your brother screwed up royally with Stevie, so all the hard work I've done is ruined..."

Dean couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Oh so this is my fault? What the hell did I do? I met her, I kissed her. It was just a kiss. I mean sure, it was one of the better kisses I've ever had. But then it was over. I found out you angel dicks have _betrothed_ me to her. She got pissed that I'm a Hunter, and she left. That's it! Fireworks over! Didn't exactly seem like kismet to me. So, how is that my fault?!"

Sam kept his smile internal. He'd been waiting for that outburst for weeks. He hadn't been able to get Dean to talk about what happened with Stevie. It had taken this elaborate charade and confrontation with a cupid to get Dean to break.

Mylo slapped his hands on the table and stood up,naked and furious.

"You called her a monster, to her face! Do you have any idea how insulting that word is to a girl like her? No! Because you don't care. All you see is that she isn't human. Therefore you deem her inferior. Not worth your love. Well, let me tell you something, human. You may never again get the chance to find out exactly how wrong you are!"

With that the cherub blinked into invisibility, his form shimmering out as if it had been a mirage. The three remaining men sat in silence for a moment. Cas grinned to himself. "I think that went well, don't you?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sam Winchester blinked a pounding headache back and looked around, trying to remember how he had arrived in a barn. It was run down, with molding hay on the floors, and the familiar smell of decaying meat.

His head rolled to the side and he glimpsed the bodies of a man and woman, probably the farmer and his wife, inside a nearby horse stall. He couldn't see them clearly, but he was willing to bet their throats had been torn out.

Sam himself was sitting on the dirt floor of the barn, his legs bound together in front of him. His arms were bound behind one of the solid steel support beams that held up the barn's ceiling. He tested the rope bonds, twisting his wrists, but they held tight.

He remembered that he and his brother had come to the farm on the trail of a vampire pack, that was picking off people from the highway. Sam remembered walking into the barn and feeling someone hit him over the head, then everything went black. He could feel blood dripping down his temple. Sam looked around carefully and listened to see if their captors were still around. Nothing. He called out. "Dean...Dean are you there?!"

"Stop the trilling!" Dean groaned from somewhere off to his left. Sam turned his head to see that his brother was similarly tied, to a pole about 10 feet away from him. Dean, for his part, seemed to take a mental stock of the situation. Sam saw Dean testing his own bonds, which held tight.

"Oh good!" Came a voice from their left. A dark haired woman dressed in head to toe leather melted out of the shadows. "You're awake."

Dean blinked several times. "Kate?"

Sam's stomach sank. Kate was the leader of a vampire coven the Winchesters had tracked years earlier with their Dad. John Winchester had killed Kate's mate Luther with a magical gun called the Colt. Kate had vowed revenge on all the Winchester boys.

"Shit!" Sam cursed. He didn't bother to lower his voice. The vampire would be able to hear it anyway.

"Oh yeah!" Kate's brown eyes twinkled. She gestured around the barn and other figures started to step out of the gloom. "Yeah, you're deep in it, sugar. So take a big whiff."

At least half a dozen vampires were looking at them like they were the main course on a dinner buffet. Sam saw his brother's eyes flash around the room and then back to him. Dean dropped his head, faking a drunken daze.

"Hey, sweet cheeks! How ya been?"

Kate's lips pursed in fury and Dean scooted back against the pole. To anyone else, it would seem like Dean was trying to get a better look at his captor. Sam, though had a clearer vantage. Dean's fingers had slipped into his back pocket.

"Well, it's been a pretty crappy week." Kate mused conversationally. "Prey's been pretty sparse. Hunters on our trail. Quikstop ran out of Funions. But then lo and behold, the Winchester boys drop into our laps. I'd say things are looking up."

Dean made a shocked face and turned to his brother. "Out of Funions! The hell you say! You hear that Sammy? What's the world coming to?"

Picking up the hint, Sam made a disgusted face. "Dude, those things will kill you. All cholesterol and empty calories."

As the brothers started to bicker back and forth, confusing all the vampire flunkies, Kate stamped a foot. "Enough!"

One of the female vampires stepped forward. It was Jenny, a girl the Winchester's had tried to save, but who'd been turned by Kate and Luther. She knelt down next to Dean and held up a knife in front of his face. It was the Kurdish demon killing knife that Dean always kept in his jacket. "Looking for this, Dean?"

Kate smiled. "We searched you before we tied you up. No sense in repeating past mistakes. No guns, knives, or darts allowed at this dinner party. And certainly no Dead Man's Blood."

Jenny ran the knife along Dean's denim covered leg. She sliced at Dean's legs, making shallow cuts that illicited small grunts of pain. Sam knew that Dean wouldn't give her the satisfaction of a scream. Jeny paused briefly around Dean's crotch then slid the blade up under his shirt. Dean groaned against the blade, glaring at Jenny. "Go ahead, bitch. Gimme all you got. 'Cause make no mistake, you die tonight."

Jenny turned to Kate, who nodded. Sam watched in horror as she stabbed Dean in the gut, eliciting a bellow of pain that Dean muffled through gritted teeth. Dean slumped against the pole and something silver fell out of his left hand. It hit the hay covering the dirt floor. Sam barely registered a line of blue electricity trailing in its wake over the sound of his own screaming voice.

"Dean!"

Sam could tell the exact moment when the scent of his brother's blood reached the vampires. They let out small growls of hunger. He wondered how long it would take for them to break the hold of Kate's control, or when she'd just let them go.

Sam had to stall them. But he couldn't help but stare at his brother as Kate advanced on Dean. Sam prayed to Cass and God and anyone else who might be listening for a reprieve for his brother. The tell tale flap of wings didn't come. Sam could hear the start of rain on the barn's tin roof. Out of the corner of his eye, lightning flashed past the crack in the barn door. Kate bit into Dean's neck hard.

"Hey! If you're gonna bleed us, you might as well be equitable about it!"

Kate's attention swiveled to him. "Oh, so you want to die? Or are you just playing the hero? Trying to buy your big bro some time? Believe me sweetness. You'll get your turn. There's plenty of you boys to go around."

Kate nodded toward Sam, and Jenny pulled the knife out of Dean's gut, licking it clean. Jenny moved over to Sam and straddled his hips. She began making the same shallow cuts along his exposed arms. Pain seared through him.

Kate raised her head from Dean's neck, and shouted through blood soaked fangs. "Dig in guys! This one's mine, but the tall one's open for business."

 _Crack._

The barn doors slammed open. A petite figure walked leisurely in and sneezed loudly, making all heads swivel to her attention. "Vampires! Why does that always happen with vampires?"

To Sam, the voice was as close to music as he'd ever heard. Stevie Jane.

Kate popped to her feet, leaving Dean's head to lull to the side, exposing the seeping wound in his throat. "Who the hell are you?"

Stevie chuckled. "Who I am is immaterial, darlin. What does matter is what I want. What I want is to take these two annoying Hunters off your hands, and leave you blood suckers to scavenge your meals in peace."

"Not gonna happen." Kate sneered. She nodded to her flunkies who began to spread out and surround Stevie. "The Winchesters are mine. This meal has been a long time coming."

Stevie's eyes flitted to Dean, and then to Sam, then back to Kate. "That's too bad. Perhaps I was too hasty. Maybe I should impress upon you what I am."

"And what is that?" Kate replied.

"Something a hell of a lot scarier than you." Stevie smirked.

"We'll see about that." Kate smirked

The vampires attacked Stevie Jane as one. Sam watched her draw what looked like a comb out of the hair beneath her Stetson hat. Before his eyes, the small bit of metal telescoped out into a sword hilt, out of which sprung a lethal looking short sword. Stevie went to town, hacking at Kate and her minions.

Sam struggled against his bonds, while they were distracted. He'd almost wriggled free of the ropes around his wrists when Jenny doubled back. She grabbed Sam by the throat and dragged him to his feet, breaking the rope around his wrists painfully.

"I'm not finished with you yet, pet."

Jenny leaned in to bite Sam but a sizzle of ozone brought her up short. Both of their eyes went wide to see the sword blade poking out of her chest. Blue electricity bolts emanated from the sword, through Jenny's body, and threatened to lick Sam. He saw the vampire fall to the ground with Stevie right behind her.

"You boys called?" Stevie's long dark hair was sticking to her forehead and she blew it out of the way.

"What the hell did you do?" Kate screeched to their left. The bodies of her minions littered the floor.

She was holding Dean up, one hand wrapped around his chest. Dean's head flopped back, and he gave Kate a languid, blood soaked smile. "Nice knowing ya, Kate. I'll see you in he…"

Dean passed out. Kate turned back to Sam and Stevie Jane. "He's still alive, barely. If you let me go, I'll return the favor."

"Oh it's too late for that." Stevie growled, low in her throat.

"Stevie…" Sam tried to reason with her. "She'll kill him."

"Will she?" Stevie turned to Sam and he could see her eyes change, more wolf now than human. Bolts of electricity ricocheted around her irises. Sam barely registered the movement of her hand. The next thing he saw was his brother on the ground and the sword in Kate's grasp.

A disbelieving smile crossed Kate's face. The vampire began to laugh hysterically. "You missed!"

"Sugar, I never miss." Stevie smirked, then looked up. Lightning bolts skipped in through the windows, grabbing at the steel poles that held up the barn's roof. They spiraled in and grasped the sword blade, rocketing up Kate's arms. The electric currents came in waves so hard, Sam could hear them buzzing. The buzzing soon overtook Kate's screams. By the time the sword fell to the ground, next to Dean's prone body, all that was left of Kate was ash.

Sam was glued to the spot in shock. Stevie sprinted to Dean, falling to her knees beside him. She felt for a pulse on the uninjured side of his neck, letting out a relieved breath. She said something in Latin that Sam didn't understand, then shook her head at him. "He's alive. Help me get him up."

The words didn't penetrate the fog of terror in Sam's brain.

"Sam!" Stevie barked. Sam blinked at her. "I need you to help me prop him up."

Sam lifted his brother and moved Dean toward the pole he'd been tied to. "We need to get him to a hospital."

Stevie shook her head, "He's lost too much blood. He won't make it to a hospital. But he doesn't need one. He has me."

"What are you going to do?"

"What I was meant to."

Stevie murmured something in Latin to the sword and it shortened into a dagger. She used it to slit Dean's t-shirt up the middle. "Help me get it off him."

Sam did as he was bid while Stevie shrugged out of the jacket and purple tank top she was wearing, leaving her bare chested as well. Sam raised an eyebrow and tried not to leer. "I don't think he's up for your sex games at the moment."

"This isn't a Mating." Stevie said. "We don't have time for that. Only a Bonding will save him now, I'll worry about the rest later."

"Meaning?"

Stevie growled, "I'm going to bond my soul to his. If your friend Castiel was telling the truth, and Dean is my True Mate, it should work. If it works, Dean will make a full recovery. "

Sam raised an eyebrow. "And if it doesn't?"

"He and I will both die."

Sam regarded her for a beat then nodded. "What do you need from me?"

"I need consent." Stevie breathed. "I'll try for his, but if I can't get it…"

"Do it." Sam said without hesitation.

Stevie ran a hand down Dean's jawline, whispering to him like a lover. "Dean, baby, open your eyes."

Dean's eyes fluttered. Stevie placed a chaste kiss on his and his eyes fluttered open. "Stevie?"

"That's right." She purred. "You don't have much time. I can help, but I need to know. Do you accept me?"

Dean's gaze flickered to Sam, who nodded. He coughed up blood, but was able to whisper. "Yes."

After that, Dean promptly passed out.

Stevie leaned him forward so his bare chest leaned against hers. Her eyes caught the handprint burned into his shoulder. Anger flashed in her eyes. She took her dagger to her forearm and Sam gritted his teeth as he watched her slice off a piece of her own flesh. She opened Dean's mouth and slid it in.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

Stevie ignored him, massaging Dean's throat so he'd swallow. She murmured to him. "From this day forward, mine to me and mine. Pack...and only love."

Sam took a step toward them, intent on stopping her. Lightning cracked down from the ceiling, lighting hay on fire in a circle around Stevie and Dean. Sam was blown off his feet. He saw his brother's eyes flutter, and saw Dean mumble something he couldn't make out.

Stevie tipped Dean's head to the side exposing his unmarked neck, just above the hand print burn Cass had made on his shoulder. Sam saw her canine teeth extend to sharp points as she bit into the join between Dean's neck and shoulder. Dean took in a ragged breath and passed out again. Stevie brought her face up to kiss. She cut her palm with the dagger and placed it over the place where she had bitten into Dean. "My soul to yours, in this life and the next. We are bound."

The storm outside raged, lightning bolts skipped in from the doorways, broke through ceiling and windows, enveloping Dean and Stevie. Stevie curled around Dean, shielding him. And then all by itself, the storm subsided. Sam was left panting.

Sam rushed over to them, pulling Stevie's limp body off of his brother. She flopped to the side, past out. Sam ignored her and felt at Dean's throat. The place where Stevie bit Dean was already healed over. A dark mark like a bad hickey remained just below the surface of the skin. Sam was astonished to see that the chunk that Kate had taken out of the other side of Dean's neck had stopped oozing. Sam felt for a pulse. His heart leaped. It was slow, but it was steady. He could definitely feel the thrum of blood through his brother's veins.

Sam took stock of the rest of Dean. The stab wounds that Jenny had inflicted were all closed up. The shallower ones were even mostly healed. Satisfied that his brother was out of the woods, Sam turned to Stevie, who was coughing herself awake.

"What did you do?" Sam growled, grabbing the girl by the shoulders. "Did you turn him?"

Stevies eyes were glazed over, disoriented. It took a moment for her to lock onto Sam. "Can't turn him. My kind...we're born...not turned."

"Then what did you do?"

"Exactly what I said," Stevie coughed. "I bound his soul to mine. It worked. He's my bonded Mate now, my husband. He's part of my Pack. So are you. I'm not a threat to you, Sam."

Sam let go of her shoulders, allowing her to rise. "If it worked, why is Dean still out cold?"

Stevie rose to her feet, wearily. She cracked her neck and spine, shaking out her arms. "He needs to heal internally. His lifeforce needs to feed off of mine for a while before he'll be back to normal. He's going to be okay, Sam."

"How long?" Sam growled out. He didn't trust her. Not just yet.

"If the things I've heard are right, a day, maybe two. I think." Stevie made a motion to move toward Dean, but Sam blocked her path. She rolled her eyes at him. "Look, we need to get out of here."

"You think?" Sam scoffed, ignoring her last comment. " What do you mean ' a day or two, you think'? You mean to tell me you've never done this before?"

Stevie looked him square in the eye, all hint of tenderness gone. "Of course I've never done this before."

"So you chose to make my brother your guinea pig?" Sam towered over her in wrath.

Stevie squared her shoulders and faced him head on. She spoke softly, but the power behind her voice nearly took the wind out of Sam. "Samuel Winchester, listen to me very carefully. I have never bonded with another soul, because my kind are only capable of doing so once. Only once."

She let that sink in and continued, "Dean is not my guinea pig, my patsy, or my plaything. As of this moment he is my packmate, my lover, my Mate. As his brother, that makes you Pack as well. You are both under my protection, from now on, and I would give my life to protect both of you. Pack is family to a wolf. We are now family. So whether either of us like it or not, we have to work together and get your brother the hell out of here."

Sam took in a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "What are we running from?"

Stevie rolled her eyes tiredly. "Mating with a Hunter isn't exactly acceptable behavior in my social circles. There are...people, who won't be happy about this. I'd really like to avoid them for the time being. Besides which, I think we all need to get somewhere safe, and heal up."

He nodded, and let her past. Stevie stooped beside Dean. She threw on her hat and jacket, telescoped her dagger back down into a hair comb and tucked it into her hair. Sam turned to pick up Dean's jacket, and the silver coin. When he turned back, Stevie had hefted Dean in her arms and was carrying him like a baby.

"Can we take your car?" She said. "I left mine in kind of a hurry."


End file.
